Faruk Choudhury, Labour Councillor for Easton, becomes the first Muslim appointed as Lord Mayor. Faruk Choudhury will also be the youngest person to hold the office at the age of 38 as well as being the first Asian and the first Bangladeshi.

Mr Choudhury, who is married with three young children, represents Easton ward which he has served for nearly six years. This city honour goes back 800 years and Council unanimously elected Labour's Cllr Faruk Choudhury as this year's Lord Mayor.

There is a by election in Southway ward on 27 June. The Tories currently hold this seat with Labour having won back the other 2 ward seats. With your help we can make this a solid Labour ward again.

There is campaign activity every day - canvassing, on the phone or doors, leafletting and street stalls - something for everyone!

If you can help, please ring Hollie Ridley, Local Organiser on 07703 716823 or email her on hollie_ridley@labour.org.uk

This year, the Bristol Labour Party has been again given the opportunity to participate as part of this carnival - a fantastic way to make contact with constituents across the whole of Bristol and in St Paul's in particular.

Unite is flyering the event and holding a stall to promote Community membership we are looking for activists in the area to volunteer some time to hand out leaflets and represent us at the stall between 11am -4pm on July 6th. If you are able to do so, or would like more details - please contact Amanda Ramsay on amandamcdonaldramsay@hotmail.com

Labour made six gains in the Bristol City Council Elections - Eastville , Lockleaze Easton, and Hillfields from the Lib Dems and Frome Vale, and St George East from the Tories. Labour held St George West, Lawrence Hill and Southmead.

Labour held St George West, Lawrence Hill and Southmead.

Most jittery of the counts was at Eastville where Mhairi Threlfall won for Labour by just one vote. Proof, she said, that every vote really does count!

This leaves Labour as the largest party with 28 seats (+6), the LDs with 23 (-9) the Tories on 14 (+2-2), the Greens with 4(+2) and one Independent(+1).

Overall there was a dramatic drop in the Lib Dem vote. Coalition government mid-term blues no doubt accounts for some of this - anti-Lib Dem and other protest votes were picked up by the Greens, Indys and UKIP with varying degrees of success. Although in UKIP's case - no success. But there can be no doubt this was a good result for Labour in Bristol.

Read the official results here, on the city council's website or a more detailed summary of events of the day here.

The Labour Party has a good record on gender equality in both national and local government. This policy document, written by Thangam Debbonaire, the Women's Officer for the Bristol Labour Party and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol West, sats out current gender equality issues, including representation in local governement, jobs and skills, health, caring responsobilities and safety for women and girls. Put in a local setting and our Women's Officer summarizes the Bristol Labour Party's policies specific to these issues.

Read the document here, and if you want to discuss this further, then get in touch with Thangam: thangam.debbonaire@gmail.com

Labour candidates standing in the local elections across Bristol gathered last Wednesday (3^rd April) to launch the pledges we will campaign on over the coming weeks.

‘Bristol Campaign Pledges Launch Candidates’, ten of the twenty three Labour candidates standing in May (listed from left to right). Labour is standing in every seat up for election.

Hibaq Jama (Lawrence Hill candidate),

Eileen Means (Henbury candidate),

Bill Payne (Frome Vale candidate),

Rosemary Chamberlin (Clifton candidate),

Mike Thorne (Kingsweston candidate),

Phil Jardine (Redland candidate),

Brenda Massey (Southmead candidate and current councillor)

Eileen Lepine (Cotham candidate),

Ron Stone (St George West candidate and current councillor)

They were joined by members of the community being hit by the Bedroom Tax and other welfare changes the Government introduced last week, along with current Labour councillors, members and activists.

Maria Eagle, Labour’s Shadow Transport Minister, spoke about the need for a bigger team of Labour Councillors in Bristol standing up for people across the city to push for things like a living wage now, more affordable homes, cheaper buses and more accessible childcare, as well as the need to get the message across to the Tory-Lib Dem Government that the choices they are making are not fair and not what people in Bristol deserve. At the same time the Government is hitting thousands of the least well-off households in Bristol with the Bedroom Tax, they are giving a tax cut to 13,000 millionaires.

LABOUR leader Ed Miliband had a “fantastic time” visiting St Nicholas Market and meeting the people of Bristol today.

The political heavyweight came to support his party’s candidates for the local election on May 2, and to tell anyone who would listen what Labour could do for Bristol.

After enjoying a tour of the market, Mr Miliband gave a passionate speech at the top of Corn Street about what his party would do if it were to regain power at the next general election in 2015, before holding a question and answer session with members of the public.

Impressed by the bustling indoor and outdoor markets, he told The Post: “I think it’s fantastic and I think Bristol is a great city. You know, what strikes me is that there is huge, huge pride in the city.

“You talk to anybody and they say Bristol is a fantastic place to live yet at the same time they will say, well actually there are some things that need to change.

"Bristol is a great place, but it would be an even better place if we had more Labour councillors and if we had a Labour government.”

Opportunities for young people, jobs, wages, apprenticeships, housing, transport and child care were all raised by the people he spoke to.

Campaigners against the Government’s proposed ‘Bedroom Tax’ gathered on College Green on Saturday 16^th March as part of a national day of action against the Bedroom Tax.

Labour’s Bristol West Parliamentary candidate Thangam Debbonaire organised the rally, with hundreds turning out to hear speakers opposing the Bedroom Tax and sign a petition calling for its repeal.

Click here  and here to see coverage of the event.

On Saturday 2nd February Labour councillors, candidates and activists got involved with the Make Fares Fair demonstration at the bus station, keeping up the pressure on First Bus about their fares and services.

The Make Fares Fair campaign, started by Daniel Farr, has received wide support locally and a petition with more than 3660 signatures wereconsidered by the full Council meeting on 19th March. More details in this brief council report.

Thangam Debonnaire, Bristol West's Prospective Parlimentary Candidate and Eileen Lepine, Candidate for Cotham at Make Fairs Fare Demonstration.